<~> Chapter 134

The camp was now in chaos as we climbed the hill toward Celeste's tent. We followed the trail of dirt and sand where the legs of Celeste's prisoner carved a path as she effortlessly dragged him by the neck. Soldiers were already running to create a perimeter around the tent, but many of the nearby soldiers were forced to deal with the dungeon that had just started flooding and spitting out crabs.

"They're with me," Celeste said in a clipped tone to the soldiers who were guarding her tent. One of the soldiers looked like he wanted to argue, but Celeste had a look on her face right now that made her look like she wouldn't accept any debate.

"Yes, my lady," he said before turning to give further orders to the people under his command. I tuned him out as I perked my ears for anyone else who sounded out of place.

The sounds were messy, chaotic. Even more than usual, while the soldiers and mages dealt with the dungeon. I was listening for anyone out of place. Anyone that were somewhere they shouldn't be. A horrifying snap brought me back to what was happening in front of me though.

My friends gasped as Celeste suddenly broke one of the assassin's legs with one hand without even letting go of his neck. The thin man struggled in her grip, but she coldly reached for his other leg and began to crush the bones in that one too.

"Is that necessary?! What are you doing?!" Piper cried out.

"It's necessary," Celeste said callously.

She pulled his broken legs out of the way and tilted his head back. With one hand, she pried his jaw open and with the other, she reached into his mouth and began to yank out some of his teeth with gruesome efficiency.

"Celeste," Piper said in bubbling anger.

"Their assassins kill themselves with poison sometimes. We need information from this one," she replied evenly.

"And his legs?" Piper asked.

"This man is dangerous. Helena caught them off guard, but they're normally much harder to kill than she made them look. I broke his legs so he wouldn't be able to escape and hurt someone else while we interrogate him," Celeste coldly replied. Subtly, her jaw clenched when she looked down at him. As brutal as she was acting... I think she was still holding back her anger right now.

She pulled the last of his molars out of his mouth and wiped the blood on his brown jacket. All of the assassins had been dressed in sand colored clothes to better blend in and hide. The man leaned forward and spat out a lot of blood.

"Piper, will you heal his mouth for me, please? Don't heal his legs," Celeste asked.

There was a long moment as Piper paused and considered her request. "I will heal his mouth, but I will not participate in this man's torture." Piper reached over and began healing the man's jaw.

Celeste looked through the teeth she had pulled out and found the one she was looking for. "See, a false tooth. He would have killed himself." She snapped it in half and poured out a clear liquid. I didn't know if it was actually poison, but teeth didn't normally have something like that inside them.

"Clyclostro is full of barbarians, training their people to kill themselves and forcing us to respond to their measures in kind. Disgusting," she said as she tossed the tooth away.

The captured man looked up at her with uncontained anger. "I won't tell you anything!" the man spat out.

"Sure you won't," Celeste replied. She trailed one of her claws down his chest. The razor-sharp nail sliced the shirt open without any effort. Once she had finished stripping him from the waist up, she placed the palm of her hand against his chest.

("Ask her what she's doing,") Luna told me.

"Celeste, what are you doing?" I asked sternly.

"You'll see," she replied noncommittally.

Magic began to pour from her hand into the man, and only moments later, he looked like he was shivering. The air around him had turned cold, centered on her hand. This was something else. Watching it made the hair on the back of my neck prickle. She wasn't casting any spells, she was just willing the area to become cold.

"Who was your target?" Celeste asked.

The man looked confused and sluggish as he began to shiver from the cold that was radiating around him. Celeste was staring at him with a ferocious intensity. She watched his every twitch and motion. He tried to reply, but the words died in his mouth.

"The foxkin, huh? Why?" she followed up with narrowed eyes.

"I- I never said t-that," he said while shivering.

"You almost looked at her when I asked. Now why?" she growled out.

The man clenched his jaw, but there was a glimmer in his eye. "You kn-know why. You took a s-son from us, so we're going to t-take another d-daughter from you." The man's face twisted in a mocking grin. "W-we will take them all f-from you and kill you last."

"Who told you about her?" Celeste growled out. The rage that laced her voice was intimidating.

"Y-your own family ratted you out. None of them love you, they all want you to d-die!" the man spat at her and hit her in the face.

"Useless," Celeste said with finality.

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With a quick swipe, she tore out the man's throat and he began to choke on his own blood. Celeste picked up a piece of his discarded shirt and began to wipe the spit from her face.

I felt sick watching. I felt queasy from before, but something about this pushed me over the edge, and I turned to vomit in the corner of the tent. I heaved but my stomach was empty. The people that I ate had been absorbed by my umber hound form, so I couldn't even throw them up. I continued to dry heave as tears wept from my eyes and sweat covered my face and back.

("Are you okay, Helena?") Luna asked, crouching next to me.

("I ate them... people,") I whispered.

Luna stroked my back. ("They tried to kill me. You were protecting me.")

I dry heaved again and wiped the spit from my mouth. ("It's not that... I ate them, Luna. People. I'm a cannibal.")

("Have you not eaten umber hound before?") Luna asked.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and glared at her. ("Luna. That's not the same thing. They were people.")

("They were assassins who tried to kill me. They were trying to kill you as you fought them. Eating them... it's just your fighting style. Were you in complete control of yourself when you ate parts of them? Or were your instincts influencing you?") Luna asked.

I shook my head and looked down. ("You're... trying to make excuses for me...")

Her hand rubbed up and down my back gently. ("Maybe I am. But you are not a bad person, Helena. If you were murdering people with the intent to eat them, then I would be concerned about this. But you were defending us. You ate parts of them as you do with every other monster you fight. If I were squeamish about this, I wouldn't love you the way I do.")

"Is she alright?" Celeste asked hesitantly.

I turned up to look at Celeste, who had a look of... worry on her face.

Luna nodded silently, unable to answer for herself. Celeste frowned as she looked at Luna before turning back to me. "Are you alright?" she asked again quietly.

I turned away, unable to meet her gaze. "I... I ate people in that fight."

"Ah... While fighting, you looked... out of control. Unlike the Helena I've come to know in the short time since I've met you. That form, it sometimes guides your instincts, doesn't it?" Celeste asked.

My fingers dug into the dirt. "It does... They're so strong sometimes. When Luna got hurt... I lost control. I tore out their hearts and ate them."

Celeste sighed. "I believe I know how you feel. Those of us as close to the dragon side of our blood as I am have to contend with powerful instincts as well. Have you ever trained with someone with strong instincts? Like a beastkin shifter?"

I looked up at her. "No. I... I've just been dealing with it on my own."

Celeste smiled. "It is reassuring to know that you protect my daughter even when your instincts are so close to the surface. Our instincts reveal our true motivations and the true depth of our desires. That you moved without thought to protect her, then defend her, while that deep into your instincts makes me happier than I can easily express. Now, stand up. Don't shed more tears for their sake."

Luna helped me get to my feet. "But, I... they..."

Celeste shook her head. "Shush. If you do not want to repeat that mistake, then remember this revulsion and carve it deep into your heart. Don't run from the feeling, allow yourself to experience it in full. One moment of weakness does not define us forever. Do not allow yourself to wallow in it. Your instincts helped you protect someone you love, and then they helped you do something you hate. Despite how it may feel sometimes, our instincts are swayed by our emotions. Meditate on your revulsion and it will be easier to avoid it in the future. Do you understand?"

I rubbed my eyes. "I... I think so."

"Good. I'll make some time to work with you. I will teach you how to better manage your instincts when I can make some time. I think that after this event, I'll have a bit more leeway to bring all of you closer to me. It seems that someone has discovered my connection with my daughter." She turned to Luna. "I'll soon be able to make time to finally talk with you as well. Unfortunately, it is too early for you to receive these lessons as well. Your dragon blood doesn't live as close to the surface as mine does."

Celeste stepped away from the two of us and returned to the body of the assassin. "I have to clean this up, but I don't think it's safe for Luna to leave my tent quite yet. Will all of you stay here while I take care of a few things?"

Maxwell nodded. "Sure, but did you hear about the changeling?"

Celeste frowned and her ears went back. "Valkin began to tell me about something before all of this happened. You say a changeling was found in the dungeon?"

"Yes, it had impersonated Tor'jek and almost tricked his companions into killing him. Helena scared it into fleeing, but it escaped out of the dungeon just before we came down," Maxwell said.

She put a hand to her face and growled to herself. "This is a problem. Especially if there are more of them in that dungeon. If there's a changeling among us, we may have to root it out, but this is poor timing with the assassination attempt." She glanced at his hand. "Those telepathy rings will allow you to confirm each other's identities. A changeling wouldn't be able to mimic its effects, so your group will be safe as long as you can vouch for each other. All of you should make sure to stay in pairs at minimum at all times until we can sort this out. It will also make all of you more reliable to me as well, relative to the other adventurers."

Celeste sighed. "For now, I need to deal with this. All of you stay here for now. I'll have someone bring Helena some food, something light on her stomach. She'll need it after spilling the contents of it in the corner."

"Can we get something for the smell?" Aria asked hesitantly.

Celeste laughed. "Luna and young Iris should be able to take care of that with their magic if they work together."

Aria turned to the two of them hopefully, while I sluggishly moved to a chair near her desk.

Celeste nodded. "Stay here, I'll return soon with the other delvers and we can discuss what happened in the dungeon."

I cleared my throat. "Celeste... Thank you."

She turned to me and a smile tugged at her lips. "You are welcome, Helena. I hope you feel better, in time." She pushed through the canvas of her tent and left.

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